Raila tells supporters to snub poll and join new resistance

NASA supporters during the Opposition rally at Uhuru Park on Wednesday. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]
Opposition chief Raila Odinga has announced the transformation of the National Super Alliance into a national resistance movement.

In his last address to his supporters on Wednesday before today’s repeat presidential vote, Raila also said they would defy orders made by President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto, and county commissioners.
The NASA leader told his supporters to stay away from polling stations, reiterating his clarion call that 'there is no election today'.
Raila, who has pulled out of the election re-run, asked NASA supporters to hold prayers away from voting centres or stay at home today as Kenya holds what he termed a 'sham repeat presidential election'.

Sham election
“So what do we do tomorrow (today)? Do not participate in any way in the sham election. Convince your friends, neighbours, and everyone else not to participate.
"Instead, we advise Kenyans who value democracy and justice to hold vigils and prayers away from polling stations,” said Raila.
Without naming which products or services should be boycotted, Raila made reference to the snubbing of media products, mobile telephone services, and goods and services associated with friends of the Jubilee regime.
“There are so many ways of killing a cat and this cat will be killed. We must kill this cat,” said Raila.

He claimed that from today, Uhuru and Ruto intend to actualise the electoral dictatorship they set out to establish on August 8 and defy the ruling of the highest court in the land by conducting a sham election in which only they can be victors — a coup d'etat.
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty and if there is no justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government.
"Consequently, when government is established contrary to the Constitution and the law, defiance and disobedience become an imperative,” said Raila.
He added that the duty of every citizen who loves freedom, who respects the Constitution, of every patriot, is to resist dictatorship and to fight to restore a government established in compliance with the Constitution — "the only government that can be so established is a government elected in a free, fair, and credible election".
The five-point game plan to transform the NASA coalition into a resistance movement included embarking on a national campaign of defiance of illegitimate governmental authority and non-cooperation with all its organs and boycott of goods and services offered by businesses for whose benefit the dictatorship is being established.

Raila maintained NASA refuses to be neutral in situations of injustice and will be on the same side with the oppressor. “We equally refuse to be the good men and women who did nothing when evil took roots. We return our original assignment. That assignment at the start of the current journey was and remains that we will be the people who will end electoral fraud not only in Kenya but in all of Africa,” said Raila.
In a statement read in turns by co-principals Moses Wetang'ula, Musalia Mudavadi, and Raila, the three were categorical that today’s elections were fraudulent and that they would not participate in them.
Second attempt
“The Jubilee Party will make its second attempt to establish a government in defiance of the Constitution by holding an election whose very organisers have said cannot be credible.
"Supreme Court judges, either intimidated or compromised, stayed away from the court earlier today (yesterday), making that institution unable to adjudicate in the critical affair of today’s election.

"All these confirm that we have a charade and not an election tomorrow (today),” he said.
According to Wetang'ula, Jubilee has reassembled and mounted another attempt to stay in power by means that are clearly undemocratic and unconstitutional, adding that like in August, Jubilee will today attempt to stay in power by forcing a sham election.